Detecting water in aviation honeycomb structures by using transient infrared thermographic NDT

Vladimir P. Vavilov; Alexey G. Klimov; Dmitry Nesteruk; Vladimir V. Shiryaev

doi:10.1117/12.488226

1 April 2003 Detecting water in aviation honeycomb structures by using transient infrared thermographic NDT

Vladimir P. Vavilov, Alexey G. Klimov, Dmitry Nesteruk, Vladimir V. Shiryaev

Proceedings Volume 5073, Thermosense XXV; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.488226
Event: AeroSense 2003, 2003, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

A lot of structural key elements of many modern civilian and military airplanes, such as flaps, keel, etc., are made of honeycomb structures. Honeycombs involve a combination of some materials including aluminum, Nomex, glass and graphite epoxy composites. During exploitation, atmosphere water could penetrate these structures due to possible imperfections in various junctions, and, thus, deteriorate airplane durability. In Russia, water in honeycombs is typically detected by using the X ray and ultrasonic technique. However, the X ray equipment is hardly accepted by commercial airlines because of the safety reason, and the point-by-point ultrasonic inspection is low-productive. Since 2002, we develop the IR thermographic method of detecting water by thermally stimulating aviation panels under test. Unlike the technique accepted by Airbus Industry, Inc., that uses 'a warm blanket', we use a powerful optical heater assembled with an IR camera into a single set. The first stage of research included modeling the detection process and optimizing the experimental procedure. As a result, we have demonstrated that, due to the high heat capacity of water, a temperature signal over moist areas evolves in time during a relatively long period that relaxes the requirements to the test protocol. Thus, even aluminum panels can be thermally stimulated during few seconds with a delay time being also in a few second range. A similar protocol can be applied to the inspection of composite honeycombs where the image quality resembles that obtained by X rays. The paper will describe all stages of the research starting from modeling and finishing with the preliminary experimental results obtained in situ on civilian airplanes.

Citation Download Citation

Vladimir P. Vavilov, Alexey G. Klimov, Dmitry Nesteruk, and Vladimir V. Shiryaev "Detecting water in aviation honeycomb structures by using transient infrared thermographic NDT", Proc. SPIE 5073, Thermosense XXV, (1 April 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.488226

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available